Africa Kicks: Togo

Togo may be down but it's not out.

The recent retirement from international football of Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been a huge blow for Togo.

But the next crop of internationals are honing their skills on Lomé's beaches.

As the heat dissipates towards the end of the afternoon, youths spill out on to the wide expanse of orange sand to play beach football.

These young players could potentially end up under the tutelage of another Togo international, Olufade Adekanbi.

A forward player, Adekanbi used to play with Adebayor in the national Togolese league before his career took him abroad. He now plays football at KAA Ghent in Belgium.

He has a footballing academy in Lomé, Centre Development de Soccer (CDS), which trains gifted players from all over the West African region and prepares them for a professional career.

He has won European club contracts for four of his trainees, who will be joining their new clubs at the start of the 2010/2011 season.

All of the contracts have clauses that pay out on the CDS's trainees' future transfers.

The four storey building that accommodates the academy has a motivational view over Togo's national stadium.

When the 2014 World Cup tournament comes around these youngsters could be playing on the world's biggest footballing stage, and it all started here.